Lead AI Engineer

Our client is a major European ecommerce group operating a portfolio of consumer brands across 90+ international markets. Having already invested heavily in data, technology and digital transformation, the business is now making a significant investment in AI and has launched a brand-new AI Innovation Hub to lead that evolution.

This is a rare opportunity to join at the beginning of that journey and help shape how AI is adopted across a large international ecommerce business.

Role Overview

The first AI Engineer hire within the newly established AI Innovation Hub

You’ll help shape the AI strategy, influence the technical roadmap and build production-grade AI products that solve real business problems.

This is a highly visible role with direct exposure to senior leadership and the opportunity to influence both what gets built and how it gets built.

The environment is fast-moving, highly collaborative and focused on execution rather than experimentation for experimentation’s sake.

Scope of Role

Design, build and deploy AI-powered products and applications

Develop production-grade LLM solutions and agentic workflows

Build RAG architectures and knowledge retrieval systems

Integrate AI applications with internal platforms, tools and business systems

Identify opportunities where AI can create measurable commercial impact

Partner with senior stakeholders across product, technology and commercial teams

Help define the long-term AI architecture and engineering standards

Evaluate emerging technologies and determine where they can create competitive advantage

The Opportunity

Help build an AI function from the ground up

Significant ownership and influence from day one

Greenfield environment with freedom to shape the roadmap

Exposure to senior leadership and strategic initiatives

Work across multiple brands, products and business challenges

Opportunity to build AI products that create real-world impact at scale

Your Experience

Strong software engineering foundations

Experience building and deploying AI products into production environments

Python and modern backend engineering experience

Experience with LLMs, RAG architectures and agentic AI systems

MCP or similar protocols for connecting AI systems with tools and external services

Strong product thinking and commercial awareness

Experience operating within high-growth, scale-up or rapidly evolving environments

Ability to balance technical excellence with business outcomes

Compensation

Up to £150,000 + Bonus + Benefits

Hybrid or remote working available (based on candidate preference)

If you’re excited by the opportunity to build AI products from the ground up, influence strategy from day one and see your work deployed across a global ecommerce organisation, please apply today.